


Tale as Old as Time

by puss_nd_boots



Category: D-OUT (Band), DIAURA, MEJIBRAY, X JAPAN
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Anal Sex, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, M/M, Oral Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-01
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-07-19 12:42:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7361902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puss_nd_boots/pseuds/puss_nd_boots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once upon a time, there was an island nation that had been ruled for years by three generations of brutal dictators, the latest and youngest of whom was known as The Beast. And then, a beautiful young man became a prisoner in his palace. Was he the one who could finally find the humanity within The Beast?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tale as Old as Time

**Author's Note:**

> Mejibray belongs to White Side Group, DIAURA belongs to Ains, D=OUT formerly belonged to PS Company and are now free agents, X Japan is property of Warner Music Japan. Based on the 1991 Walt Disney Pictures film Beauty and the Beast, written by Linda Woolverton (there are quotes from the film throughout the fic; if you see something you recognize from your childhood, the words are most likely hers, not mine). Also contains elements from the original story written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and the 1946 film La Belle et La Bete, written and directed by Jean Cocteau. For the Power Play square of my Season of Kink card. Inspired by the DIAURA vs. Mejibray layout in Shoxx 282, with Yo-ka dressed as a dictator in a fancy military uniform and MiA dressed as a fairy tale princess.

_Once upon a time, there was an island nation situated off the coast of Japan. It had always considered its neighbor an ally and trade partner, but it remained independent. For many centuries, it was a peaceful, happy place, governed by its own emperor, rich in abundant agriculture._

_Then came darker times._

_It started during World War 2, during which this country decided to take up arms and fight alongside Japan. Among the armies were all of the emperor's sons – who fell in battle. At the close of the war, the emperor, too, became a war casualty, felled by a bomb while visiting Tokyo._

_The nation was left leaderless and decimated. Many of their crops had been destroyed in battle. Their economy was failing. And unlike Japan, there were no occupying Americans to at least help rebuild. There was turmoil and infighting as the country struggled to find a new government, a new ruler._

_The general of the country's military took advantage of the chaos and seized control. He imposed martial law throughout the island. He cut them off from the rest of the world. And he installed himself as an absolute dictator._

_His people began to live in fear of him. There was talk of all that happened to all who opposed him – the people who disappeared in the night, to be held in dungeons and repeatedly tortured, or simply killed. People reported seeing dead bodies placed outside the dictator's palace – the former palace of the emperor – as a reminder to the public what would happen if they did not obey._

_They called their new leader The Ogre._

_Years passed, and the country became even more cut off and isolated. Nobody was allowed to leave the island upon penalty of death, save for a few trade boats that brought agricultural goods to Japan and returned with cargos of things the island's residents needed – paper products, medicines and the like. No technology was allowed for years – lest the residents intercept radio and TV broadcasts from Japan, and find out how free people lived._

_Eventually, The Ogre passed away, and his son took over – but he was just as bad, if not worse. A few rebellions sprang up – and the leaders were publicly executed in the streets. Attractive young women were kidnapped and brought to the palace to sate the new dictator's lusts – and if they refused, they were killed, and their bodies displayed in public as a warning to other women._

_The second generation dictator was known as The Monster._

_During The Monster's tenure, the country did get a limited mass media of its own – a couple of television stations, fed to residents' homes by cable (since broadcasts were prohibited), showing homegrown, government-approved programming – mostly dramas depicting traditional legends. There were also a few fashion designers who created clothes to be displayed in the island's shops, for men and women – which created the need for models to show those clothes at public fashion shows, one of the few true forms of entertainment allowed._

_Stories of life prior to this hideous family taking over were relayed from the oldest to the youngest in secret – but they began to feel more and more like legends, fairy tales. However, they did inspire some residents to start a group called the Liberation Front and stage more rebellions – and those were usually put down quickly, as before. Most people resigned themselves to having to live under The Monster forever._

_They did not take into account that even a brutal dictator is not immune to disease. And so it was that The Monster died when his son was still young, in his early-to-mid 20s. The son, of course, took over the country immediately – and the public didn't even wait to see what he would do before they came up with a name for him. They knew he'd be just like his father and grandfather._

_They called him The Beast._

_And so, the military continued to run rampant over the island, creating all kinds of havoc. The Beast himself, though, was never seen. It was said he never left his palace complex._

_One member of his staff, however, kept a close watch on him. He knew this boy had the potential to be more than a Beast._

_Minister Yoshiki had been forced into The Monster's service at an early age, because he was deemed to be intelligent and quick to learn – so he was allowed to be schooled in subjects the country forbid the public to learn, like history and the higher sciences. And he was an advisor to the dictator, trying to help him run his government in the most humane way possible – which wasn't very effective, given the Monster's tenure._

_Something gave Minister Yoshiki hope, however – and that was the Monster's only surviving son. He lived in the west wing of the palace with his mother, who had been kidnapped at an early age to be the Monster's permanent concubine – a lovely woman who gave the boy a sense of, well, humanity._

_His mother called him Yo-ka. That was the name Minister Yoshiki called the boy by, too._

_She vanished all of a sudden one day. Whether the Monster killed her, or if he tired of her and sent her back to the city, keeping the boy, nobody was certain. But it was believed that he got rid of her, one way or another, because she was too good an influence._

_And so The Monster brought the boy under his complete control, and taught him the ways of dictatorship. But Yoshiki still held out hope that Yo-ka was still there, somewhere inside The Beast._

_All he needs, he thought, is to meet someone special . . . to fall in love. If he could love someone else, the way he loved his mother, that person could bring out the compassion in him, make him turn away from the ways of The Ogre and The Monster, make him human again._

_Except time continued to pass, and The Beast continued to hide himself away from the public, except for his inner circle, his generals and advisors. And Yoshiki began to lose hope, and believe that he would never meet that person. Because even if an outside person came into his orbit, would he or she be too frightened of the dictator to even try to gain his love?_

_Who could ever love a Beast?_

* * *

MiA left his house in the early morning, looking around him. Little town. By the standards of the island, a peaceful village. Each day like the one before.

People were calling out hello to each other. He just kind of walked between them. He was, after all, considered . . . rather odd. Beautiful, they said, but odd.

Maybe it was because he had his head in dreams so often. Because why think about living on this island when he knew there was a world out there . . . and other worlds above them, in outer space. He knew this because of his frequent visits to the bookseller.

There were only certain books that were legally allowed to be printed on the island, of course – mostly collections of traditional legends and histories that abundantly sang the praises of The Ogre and The Monster. But the bookseller also had special books, forbidden ones – books that were secretly smuggled in from Japan by the traders. Books that were filled with fantastic stories of other worlds.

MiA's favorites were the series of books called Star Wars, which took place in outer space and featured Jedi knights and droids and spaceships and all manner of wonderful things. He always seemed to have his nose stuck in one of them – even if it was concealed in the dust jacket of a “legal” book.

His destination today was his place of employment – the boutique of Avenant de Gaston, one of the island's fashion designers. Gaston was one of the few people on the island with foreign blood in him – he had a French ancestor who had come to the island long before the dark times, whom he was named after – and he never let people forget that, since it made him oh-so-special.

“Well, good morning, MiA,” the designer said as the young man walked in. “I have an exciting offer for you.”

“You have a new design for me to model in the next show?” MiA said.

“Well, yes, but that's not the offer. The offer . . . is dinner with me tonight.”

Oh, crap, MiA thought. Here we go again. “That's an offer I'm going to have to turn down, Gaston-san.”

“Why? What could be better than spending an evening in my company?” The designer ran into MiA's field of view, so that the model could fully see his employer's highly gelled dyed blond hair, his three-piece suit with a cravat tie – who else on the island wore a CRAVAT? – and the flash of jewelry on his hands. If there was any kind of beauty luxury available on the island at all, Avenant de Gaston made sure to grab it. “I am a splendid conversationalist. I am a magnificent dancer. And I am a lover like no other. Think of it, MiA. I could make your life a paradise on earth.”

“No thanks,” MiA said. “I like earth just as it is.”

“What are you going to do – sit home all evening with your nose stuck in a book like you usually do? How could those books be more entertaining than me? They don't talk!”

“Some people use their imagination,” MiA said. “Sorry, Gaston-san, but you're going to have to content yourself with one of your swarms of admirers. Because I'm not among them. Now, what are we actually going to do today, work-wise?”

There was the sound of drums in the street. The two of them turned to the window to see a battalion of soldiers marching past the boutique.

“All day long,” Gaston said. “All day long, they have to come in front of my store! It drives away customers!”

“You try telling The Beast that,” MiA said as he headed back into the workroom. He not only was one of the models for Gaston's line, he helped put the clothes together. Anything to get the money to put food on the table for him and his brother.

Well, almost anything. Dating – or anything beyond that – his employer was out of the question. And no matter how much his boss persisted, he would never give in.

* * *

MiA poked his head into the room at the back of the house – the one that was his brother's workshop. He knew enough to enter with caution – because you never knew when something in there might be smoking, or blowing up, or just shooting off sparks in all directions.

“Kouki?” he called. “Are you in there?”

His brother suddenly shot out from under the cart-like contraption that was on the floor. “Oh, hi, MiA,” he said. “It's that time already? How was your day?”

“Same old same old,” MiA said. “Sewed some outfits, took some orders, got hit on by the jerk. What about you?”

“Oh, I've had a grand success of a day,” Kouki said. “It's ready, MiA! I'm going to take this to the patent office tomorrow. They won't be able to turn me down this time! I mean, this country needs a compact wheat thresher – which can also be used as road transportation! Harvest your crops, then take your special someone on a date!”

“I'm sure they'll love it,” MiA said – but he had doubts. After all, none of his brother's other inventions had been accepted by the government – since gadgets, like anything else, needed approval. If even one of Kouki's contraptions sold, and went into production . . . well, MiA wouldn't have to put up with constant sexual harassment, would he?

“I know we haven't had good luck before,” Kouki said, putting his arm around his brother's shoulders. “But this one will do it! This is the one that will allow us to make a living – and would have made Mom and Dad proud. We're going to be celebrating tomorrow for sure!”

“I'm sure we will.” MiA felt a sudden wave of melancholy at the mention of their parents. Their father had participated in one of the failed uprisings against The Monster – he'd died when MiA was only five. Their mother had succumbed to disease two years ago. The two young adults had been on their own ever since.

If we lived somewhere else, MiA thought, if we were in one of the countries out there that isn't ruled by a Beast . . . would our parents still be alive?

“Come on,” Kouki said. “Let's make a nice dinner and then turn in – because I need to leave bright and early!”

“You'll take a map, won't you?” MiA said. “You got lost last time, remember?”

“Don't worry,” Kouki said. “I've got it down pat this time! Really! Come on, trust your brother – I'll find that patent office, no matter what!”

* * *

Kouki found himself literally lost in the woods.

Okay, so he'd taken a wrong turn somewhere. He was supposed to go left at the brook, right at the big boulder – or was it the other way around? Never mind, he'd make his way back where he came from and try again.

He turned his contraption around and started driving it. Well, he didn't remember seeing that clump of bushes before. Okay, he'd make another turn, and try going this way . . .

He didn't realize he was passing a sign that said, “RESTRICTED AREA, DO NOT ENTER.”

In the palace of The Beast, a guard picked up something on one of the monitors that showed the woods surrounding the complex. He turned and headed down a corridor, pausing at the door of an office.

“Sir,” he said, “there is a trespasser in the woods. What should we do?”

“Is he armed?” said the figure who was sitting in an office chair, his back to the door.

“We don't think so – but he's driving some sort of odd vehicle.”

“Bring him and the vehicle back in here,” the man in the chair said. “I will question him myself.”

“Yes, sir,” the guard said, and left the room.

The figure in the chair stood up, and stared out the window for a moment. Then, he reached beside him, to where garments were hanging on a coatrack. He put a cloak over his head, so it covered most of his hair, then fastened a veil across the lower part of his face.

This trespasser probably had no idea he was about to come face to face with The Beast.

* * *

MiA paced around the living room, feeling frantic.

His brother hadn't arrived home. He hadn't called – the island had wired phone service, although the common populace was not permitted cell phones.

He knew that Kouki had a thing for getting lost – but this was beyond anything his brother had ever done before.

There was no choice but to venture out and ask around – although it was getting dark, and not very many of the people dared to go out at night. Darkness was, after all, when people tended to disappear and never be seen again.

He noticed a light still on in Gaston's shop. His employer might be the last person in the world he wanted to see right now, but if he'd heard anything . . .

MiA burst into the store. “Gaston-san! Have you seen my brother?”

The designer looked up from his ledger books. “Well, no. Why?”

“He's missing. He went to the patent office with his latest invention, and he hasn't come back, and . . .”

“There, there, MiA, there's no need to be frantic.” The designer got up and moved toward him. “Let me comfort you.”

“I don't want comfort!” MiA snapped, stepping backward. “I want to find my brother!”

“I can help, I can help. You and I will search for him together, hmm? I know some places where . . .”

Fortunately, a young couple happened to be passing the store at that moment, the woman saying, “ . . . and my uncle said he saw that crazy inventor being arrested.”

“Arrested? No way!”

“He was cutting through the woods, right outside the forbidden area, and he saw them dragging him off – funny contraption and all. It was from a distance, but it was definitely . . .”

MiA's breath caught. Arrested? Dragged off to the palace? That meant her brother was at the mercy of . . .

“I have to go there!” he said.

“MiA, that's no place for a pretty young thing like you, alone,” Gaston said, grabbing for his arm. “Here, let me . . .”

“Don't touch me!” MiA shrugged his employer's touch off. “Just let me go to him!”

“You refuse me now,” Gaston said. “But you will come around, MiA. Being with me is your destiny. The sooner you accept it, the better it will be. Besides – why deny yourself the absolute happiness I can give you?”

“I'd rather find my brother!” MiA shouted, running from the shop. He looked up at the hill, where the palace was. He could use one of his brother's other cart-like inventions. If he did that, he could be there within an hour.

He wasn't thinking about any danger to himself. He just knew he had to get Kouki back – by any means possible.

* * *

MiA pulled up to the palace gates, peering through them. They were imposing, all right, all wrought iron topped with barbed wire, concealing the much more elegant building inside.

There was a loudspeaker built into the gates, with a buzzer. MiA pushed it, and was rewarded with a cold, hard voice saying, “State your business.”

“I need to speak with The Beast,” MiA said.

“Nobody speaks with him,” the voice replied. “Good day.”

“He has my brother!” MiA said. “He was grabbed in the woods this afternoon! It was a mistake, he meant nobody any harm, he just got lost . . . please, let him go!”

A weak voice in the background said, “MiA, is that you?”

“Kouki!” he shouted. “Kouki, it's me, what have they done to you?”

“Just go, MiA,” Kouki said. “Run away from here before they get you, too.”

“I'm not leaving without you!” MiA said. “I will stand here all night and not let them alone until they decide to give you back to me!”

Suddenly, the gates in front of him began to swing open. MiA jumped. What was going on?

“Come in, then,” said a new voice she hadn't heard before. “If you are such a devoted brother, then come in and see what we have done with him. He trespassed, and he is being treated accordingly.”

MiA ran up the path beyond the gates, through a wall of high, high hedges – meticulously trimmed. At least the Beast has an army of gardeners working for him, he thought.

The door of the palace swung open before he got there. Two guards were standing on either side of the doorway, and they immediately grabbed MiA under each arm. “Come with us,” one said.

“Are you taking me to my brother?”

“Just come with us,” the one guard snapped. MiA was led down a corridor, to a flight of stone steps, lit by torches mounted on the walls. He climbed down, and down, and down . . .

Eventually, he ended up in a dark, dank room, lined with holes in the stone walls, each one covered with bars. In one of those holes was his brother, one side of his face cut and bruised.

“Kouki!” MiA said, rushing over to him.

“I told you to run,” Kouki said. “If he comes back, he will . . .”

“I will what?” said a voice from the stairs. A black-cloaked figure descended into the room, eyes peering above a dark veil. All MiA could think of was that, in this dim light, this person resembled the villain of those books he loved – Darth Vader.

“Are you The Beast?” MiA said, trying to keep his voice steady – though he had to admit his legs were shaking. Not for his sake, for Kouki's.

“I have been called that, yes,” the newcomer said in a baritone voice. “You are the brother of this prisoner?”

“He does not deserve to be a prisoner!” MiA said. “He just got lost! I know how he is, he gets lost all the time! He didn't mean to . . .”

“He wandered onto my grounds with some sort of device,” The Beast said. “That means he trespassed, and therefore, he is a prisoner.”

“He is an unjust prisoner!” MiA said. “You have to let him go!”

“I will do no such thing,” The Beast said. “Those who intrude on my grounds have to be dealt with.”

“MiA, please, just leave, go home . . .” Kouki said.

“What if I took his place as your prisoner?”

“MiA, NO!” Kouki cried. “Don't do it!”

“Do you really mean that?” The Beast said.

“Yes,” MiA said. “I will barter my own freedom for his. How's that?”

“MiA, I can't let you do this!” Kouki said.

“Too late,” said The Beast. “The bargain is done.”

“NO!” Kouki said. “Let him go! I will stay here as long as you require!”

“Kouki, it's all right,” MiA said. “I'll be fine. Really. You go home.”

“You heard him,” The Beast said. “Go. Leave these premises, right now. Or I will have BOTH your heads.”

A guard unlocked the cell and roughly shoved Kouki out, then the two that brought MiA down began dragging Kouki upward. “I will come back, MiA!” Kouki shouted. “I will bring help! I will save you!”

“Don't even try if you want to live,” The Beast shouted back.

Quietly, MiA turned and walked into the cell his brother had vacated. The guard started to close the door behind him – when The Beast shot out a hand and grabbed it. “No,” he said.

“No?” said the guard.

“He committed no crime himself,” The Beast said. “He will stay in a regular bedroom. But he will not be permitted to leave these premises.” He turned and looked at MiA, eyes burning above the veil. “Do you understand?”

“I understand,” MiA said. He walked out of the cell and up the stairs, ahead of the two guards. He kept his head high, his vision straight.

If I am to be a prisoner, he thought, I will be a proud one.

Meanwhile, in another office, Minister Yoshiki looked away from the monitor on which he had watched what had happened in the dungeon. He turned and watched MiA being led down the hall.

He knew that his master was bisexual – he'd had physical-pleasure-only dalliances with both male and female members of his military. He could plainly see that this newcomer was strong in character and physically beautiful.

Maybe, he thought, he's the one. He will be the one who finds Yo-ka inside The Beast.

* * *

MiA's room was surprisingly comfortable. There was an old-fashioned queen-sized bed – with a canopy, matching the satiny blue coverlet on the bed. There was a bathing room with a shower and a water closet with a bidet.

If I have to spend the rest of my life here, MiA thought, I suppose it could be worse. I just wish I had some of my books with me. He lay back on the bed, closing his eyes, trying to relax . . . and hoping his brother got home all right.

Outside, Minister Yoshiki walked with The Beast toward MiA's door.

“If you're going to keep the young man here,” Yoshiki said, “be pleasant to him. Invite him to dinner.”

“Do I have to?” The Beast said.

“Well, you should,” Yoshiki said. “He was noble enough to sacrifice himself for his brother – you should grant him some courtesy. And give him the run of the palace, as long as he doesn't go outside alone.”

“Not the entire palace,” Yo-ka said.

“Well, no,” said Yoshiki. “You know and I know where he is forbidden to go.”

They paused outside the door. “Go on,” Yoshiki said. “Invite him.”

The Beast knocked on the door. “Will you come down to dinner?” he said.

MiA sat up. Did . . . did he just hear what he thought he did? He sighed. It was all too reminiscent of the harassment he got from his boss. “No, thank you,” he said.

“You have the run of the palace, by the way. Except for the west wing. You can't go there.”

“Thank you,” MiA said. “Now . . . I want to rest.”

“But will you have dinner with me?”

MiA sighed again. The goddamn dictator was getting persistent. “No,” he said. “I said no, thank you once, and I’m saying it again.”

“Well, then, STARVE!” The Beast said, storming away from the door. “If he doesn't eat with me, he doesn't eat with anyone!”

Minister Yoshiki sighed. “That didn't go very well, did it?” he murmured to himself.

* * *

MiA awoke from his nap a couple of hours later to find he was, indeed, hungry. I should have taken him up on the dinner offer, he thought.

Yawning and stretching, he left his room. The palace was quiet – most of the military had retreated to their barracks, just a few guards were scattered here and there. He went down the stairs, in search of the kitchen – maybe he could find something in the cupboards.

A pleasant-looking man in his 40s was passing down the corridor when he saw MiA wandering around. “Oh, hello,” he said. “You're the boy who . . .”

“Offered himself as a prisoner, yes,” MiA said. “And I'm wondering if it was the right thing to do.”

“If you did it out of love for your brother? Definitely the right thing.” The man bowed. “I'm Hayashi Yoshiki, chief minister of the Master's administration. Most people here call me Minister Yoshiki.”

“The Master is The Beast, correct?”

“Yes. That is what we call him here.”

“Does he have a real name?”

There was a pause. “Why don't you come into the kitchen? I'll have the staff make you dinner.”

“I thought the MASTER forbid it.”

“The master has retreated to his private chambers for the evening. What he doesn't know won't hurt him. Go on, into the kitchen with you.”

MiA slowly entered the kitchen, looking around, slowly. It was bigger than the entire house he lived in with his brother, filled with gleaming chrome and ceramic and an array of fancy gadgets. It looked like the kind of thing one would find in a fancy restaurant.

A few servants were in there, putting away utensils and bowls, probably from a dinner served to the staff earlier. “Potsu-san, are there any leftovers you can warm up for this boy?” Minister Yoshiki asked.

“We have a fair amount of the beef with vegetables,” said an older lady with a rounded shape that reminded MiA somewhat of a teapot. “I could put some rice in the steamer and bring it out for him.”

“Excellent,” Yoshiki said. “We'll be at the table over in the corner.”

“I don't want to impose,” MiA said.

“Nonsense, dear,” the lady said. “When you're with us, you're our guest.”

“Thank you.” MiA bowed low, then followed Yoshiki to the table. “You have been with The Bea- with the Master long?”

“I've served his family nearly all my life,” Yoshiki said, sitting down at the table. “Not by my choice, mind you. I was singled out for my intelligence early on, so the powers that be decided I should be trained as an advisor to the previous Master.”

“The Monster,” MiA said.

“And he lived up to the nickname, too,” Yoshiki said. He glanced around, making sure nobody that could get him in trouble was listening, and then leaned over toward MiA, whispering, “He was a truly awful human being. He was obsessed with leading by fear, intimidation and his own sense of self-importance. Oh, and keeping everyone in his country ignorant of the ways of the outer world. He didn't want anyone getting any ideas about, heaven forbid, a free government. He'd execute anyone who he even suspected was a threat – including his own relatives.”

MiA shuddered. “How did you cope with living with a person like that?”

“It's a big palace. I only dealt with the Master directly when I had to. Most of the time, I stayed among the few nice people here – like the household staff. Oh, and the Master's concubine – the mother of the current Master.”

“Concubine?” MiA said – but was interrupted by Potsu-san rolling up a cart covered with dishes.

“There you are, dear,” she said. “The beef stew over rice, some pickles, and some tea. Let us know if you need anything else.”

“Thank you so much,” MiA said. He got his chopsticks and sampled the food. “It's good! Really good!”

“The food has always been magnificent here,” Yoshiki said. “One of the things that makes this place bearable.”

“Now, you were saying about The Monster's . . . concubine? He didn't marry her?”

“Neither he nor his father ever married,” Yoshiki said. “They just used and disposed of partners as they saw fit. They just plain weren't capable of love – and that was half their problem.”

“So why did The Monster keep the concubine here?” MiA said.

“She found favor with him – in a carnal way. So he held on to her. It's not as if she felt anything for him – she was afraid of what he'd do to her family if she tried to escape. Eventually, she gave birth to the previous Master's only child – the current Master.”

“And you said she was nice?” said MiA between bites. The food really was good – restaurant-quality.

“Lovely. Sweet and kind – the whole staff adored her. They called her The Rose. And she was a good mother to Yo-ka, too.”

“Is that the Master's real name?” MiA said.

“Don't ever say it around him,” Yoshiki sighed. “He will deny ever having been that person.”

“What happened to her – to The Rose, I mean?” MiA said.

“Nobody is quite sure,” Yoshiki said. “One day she was just . . . gone. Some people said that the Master killed her and hid the body. Others said he just sent her back to her family, but kept the boy. But everyone agrees on one thing – he considered her a threat to making the boy just like him. Another Monster.”

“So . . . he still carries the influence of his mother with him,” MiA said. Maybe he isn't so horrible after all, he thought.

“Deeply buried,” said Yoshiki. “The darkness of his father is currently obscuring the light of his mother. Although someday . . .” He let his voice trail off. “Never you mind. Once you've finished your dinner, I will take you on a tour of the house.”

MiA nodded – but he was left wondering what Yoshiki was going to say just now.

* * *

He couldn't imagine a place this big could exist in his wildest dreams.

The palace had been modified to be a mix of Western and traditional Japanese styles. Here and there were elegant tatami rooms with beautiful artwork on the screens. They were scattered among European-style ballrooms with grand marble floors, huge meeting rooms with long tables and leather-backed chairs, parlors filled with heavy wooden antiques.

One floor consisted of one bedroom after another. “This is where the staff lives?” MiA said.

“Yes, mostly,” Yoshiki said. “It's said that when the old emperor lived here, those rooms were filled with guests all the time. Now, well . . . nobody has voluntarily enter these premises in years.”

“And what's over there?” MiA said, peeking around a corner. He could see a set of grand double doors. There seemed to be some kind of soft pink light coming under them, as if something in the room was glowing.

“You can't go in there,” Yoshiki said, quickly. “That's the west wing. The Master has forbidden it.”

“I'm just going to look for a second,” MiA said, rushing over to the double doors. “Just to see what's glowing in there!”

He pulled the doors open and walked in . . . to find himself in a space that had a lot more of a feminine sensibility than the rest of the palace. The walls were covered with floral paper, the furniture was painted white and elegant. There was a bed covered in a ruffled pink spread, and on a table . . .

A crystal rose in a glass jar. It was catching the light of the full moon and sparkling. Yes, that must have been what MiA saw. He approached it, slowly . . .

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” roared a voice from the other side of the room.

MiA whirled around. Oh, crap. There was the figure in the black cloak – he was standing in the shadows, but the boy could make out the basic shape enough to know who he was looking at.

“I'm sorry,” MiA said. “I . . . I lost my way, and . . .”

“DIDN'T I SAY YOU WERE FORBIDDEN TO ENTER THE WEST WING?” the Beast shouted. “GET OUT! OUT NOW!” His arm extended from the shadows, and he was holding something in his hand, something that looked like a whip . . .

MiA turned and ran, blundering out the first door he came to and running down the hall. He was breathing hard and shaking – out of both fear and rage.

How dare he? MiA thought. How dare he speak to someone else like that?

It wasn't until he turned a corner that he realized he'd gone out a different door than he came in. He was in a dark hall, and there was no Yoshiki . . . but there was movement. Someone was walking toward him – no, more like stumbling.

“Hey, beautiful,” slurred a drunken voice. “Whatcha doing all alone at night? Don't think I've ever seen you before.”

MiA blinked in the darkness. The drunk was wearing a military uniform. Great, he thought, now I'm facing one of the guards, sloshed to the gills.

“I'll just be going on my way,” he said.

“No you won't,” said the soldier. “Pretty thing like you? It's playtime.”

“I don't think so,” MiA said – but he found himself grabbed in a vicelike grip, his arms twisted behind his back, and then his head shoved roughly into the wall, so he was in a bent-over position. Obviously, this guy might be several sheets to the wind, but his military reflexes were still there.

One hand let go of him, and MiA thought he'd get free – only to feel a knife blade pressed to his throat.

“Now, then, pretty,” the drunk said. “You're going to give me what I want right now, or . . .”

The crack of a gunshot rang out through the hall. MiA's attacker let out a choked sound and dropped the knife. MiA lifted his head and turned it toward his rescuer, expecting to see Minister Yoshiki.

Instead, it was the dark form of The Beast.

“Go on,” the dictator said. “Go around the corner and down the stairs, it will take you back to the main ballroom.”

MiA just stared at him for a moment. Did . . . did he just . . .

“You could have hit ME, you know!” he said.

“Well, if you hadn't run out of there like you did, I wouldn't have had to rescue you at all!” The Beast retorted.

“If YOU hadn't come after me like a ferocious animal, I wouldn't have run!” MiA snapped.

“If YOU hadn't been in the west wing, I wouldn't have gone after you!” yelled The Beast.

“Maybe YOU should just learn to control your temper!” MiA shouted, and started to storm off in the direction The Beast told him to go . . .

And then, he stopped, and turned around. “By the way,” he said, “thanks for saving me.”

“You're welcome,” The Beast replied.

MiA turned to go again, racing down the corridor, toward the ballroom – where he found a worried Minister Yoshiki.

“What happened?” the minister said. “I heard the gunshot.”

“It's a long story,” MiA said. “I'll tell you in the morning.”

* * *

MiA woke up wrapped in satin bedsheets, tossing around. What a dream, he thought. It was awful. My brother being arrested, me taking his place as The Beast's prisoner, The Beast screaming at me in the west wing, the attempted rape by the drunken soldier . . .

He sat straight up. He was in a room a lot bigger than the one at home. Those sheets against his skin? Real satin.

Crap. It wasn't a dream.

He jumped out of bed and headed for the wardrobe at the other side of the room. Was there anything in there that would fit him, he wondered . . .

There were some plain yukatas that seemed to be about his size. That would do for now.

He went into the bathroom, where there was a wrapped toothbrush, toothpaste and soap laid out. He turned on the shower, thinking that he never thought he'd actually miss being in Gaston's shop – until now.

Once he was done, he found indoor slippers that would fit his feet and headed downstairs, wondering if he'd be able to ask the kitchen staff for breakfast. They certainly seemed nice enough . . .

And then he froze as he saw the figure in black, veil across his face, coming toward him. It was HIM again.

“You could say good morning, you know,” The Beast said.

“So could you,” MiA replied.

“Look,” said the dictator, “it seems I owe you an apology for last night.”

MiA blinked. Did he . . . just hear . . . what he thought he did . . .

“You're new. It's easy for you to get lost. There's no way you could have known for sure where the west wing was. So, yes . . I . . . I . . . lost my temper.”

“All right,” MiA said. “Apology accepted.”

“But now that you know where it is, don't go there again!” The Beast said, sternly.

“Okay, okay,” MiA said. He was so overly sensitive about . . .

And then, he remembered what Yoshiki had said – that the west wing had been where his mother, The Rose, had lived. So the crystal rose in there must have been hers.

Does he miss her? MiA thought. Is he in eternal grief for her – and that's why he's so sensitive about those rooms?

“And I'm going to ask you again,” said the dictator. “Will you join me for dinner tonight?”

MiA was about to refuse – but he didn't want to risk another outburst like last night. Besides, he remembered what Yoshiki said about The Beast and his mother, about how she tried to make him more human than his father and grandfather.

Could it be, he thought, that there might be a tiny bit of her influence still there? Something, well, redeemable in him?

“Yes,” he said. “Yes, I will.”

* * *

He spent the day being given a more thorough tour of the palace and its grounds by the staff. The gardens were certainly large and impressive, as was the fountain at the center, which looked more like something you'd see in front of a Roman palazzo than something that would be in a Japanese garden. (Not that MiA knew much about Roman palazzos, other than brief glimpses in the forbidden books his bookseller got from Japan).

And then, there was the collection of art and statuary around the interior of the palace – including many portraits of the previous leaders. The staff member made sure to toe the party line and sing the praises of how “our first Master” (The Ogre) had brought peace and order to the country, and “our second Master” (The Monster) had kept the good times rolling on. (Never mind the piles of corpses . . .)

“There are no portraits of the current Master?” MiA said.

“The Master does not want his portrait painted,” the staff member said. “He does not even show his face to most of us. Only his innermost circle have seen him without the hood and veil.”

“That's going to make my having dinner with him very difficult,” MiA said. “How can he eat with the veil on?”

The staff member gave him a quizzical look. “He . . . asked you to have dinner?”

“Twice. He asked the first time last night, and I turned him down because I was tired. He got really annoyed with me then.”

“That's unusual. He hasn't done that . . . well, ever. You will most likely be going to his private quarters in the east wing, then. Someone will come to fetch you when it's time.”

MiA was brought back to his rooms late in the afternoon, where he found a formal kimono laid out on his bed. Apparently, that was his dining attire. Once he was changed, he sat and waited, patiently, for the person that would inevitably come.

As it turned out, it was Minister Yoshiki who knocked on his door. “I've come to bring you to dinner,” he said. “Follow me – and remember, you're entering a section of the palace where not many people are permitted to go. Behave with proper respect.”

MiA knew that meant “kowtow to His Beastness at every moment.” He was not at all surprised to hear it, really. Quietly, he followed Yoshiki down the hall, until the minister knocked on an ornate door.

“It's me,” he said. “I've brought the Master's guest.”

The door opened just wide enough to admit the two of them. MiA looked around, and found himself in a dining hall with a long table covered with a white cloth. Despite its size, however, just two places were set, at opposite sides of the far end.

“Aren't you eating with us?” MiA said.

“I take my dinner with the rest of the staff – we have a dining room just off the kitchen you were in last night,” Yoshiki said. “No, the Master will be dining with you privately. Cogusuwarutu-san here is the Master's private butler, he will be taking the food out of the dumbwaiter as it's sent up from the kitchen and serving it to you.” The squat man in the tuxedo next to Yoshiki bowed; his shape reminded MiA of the old clock that sat on the endtable back home.

The door at the other end of the room opened, and an all-too-familiar voice said, “Thank you, Minister Yoshiki. You may take your leave of us now.”

Yoshiki bowed. “As you wish, Master,” he said. Cogusuwarutu opened the door just wide enough for the minister to exit again, and MiA wanted to beg him to stay. He was being left alone with . . .

He turned, expecting to see the familiar black-cloaked form. What he saw instead startled him.

The Beast was standing there, wearing a military jacket with golden epaulets, a peaked military cap, black pants and shiny black boots. But it was his face that was the most stunning. He was . . . beautiful. His features were soft, almost feminine, framed by reddish-brown hair.

Either he dyes his hair, MiA thought, or he has some foreign blood in him.

“Do you always stand there gawking at your host?” The Beast said.

“Sorry,” MiA said, “but I wasn't expecting you to not look like a dark shadow in the corner.”

“I don't hide in that cloak 24 hours a day, you know,” The Beast said.

“Just most of the hours of the day?” MiA said.

“Appearances are important,” said The Beast. “My father taught me the importance of always appearing strong and imposing, and of controlling through fear. An appearance of mystery makes you more fearful.”

“Begging your pardon, _sir,_ but my father always told _me_ , 'Don't judge a book by its cover,’” MiA said.

“Your father was obviously not in government.”

No, MiA thought, he gave his life trying to fight your father's government. “It was the last thing in the world he would have wanted, sir. He was a repairman.”

“Sit,” The Beast said. “Dinner will be up shortly. Have you been comfortable?”

“Comfortable, yes,” MiA said, sitting down at the table. “But I'm afraid I'm going to be bored here.”

“What is it you used to do back home?” The Beast said, sitting opposite him.

“I was a designer's assistant and one of his models,” MiA said. “Mostly I'd sew the clothes after the customers placed their orders.”

“That is what you used to do for pleasure, then? Sew clothes?”

“Oh, no,” MiA said. “Sewing was my business, not my hobby. My hobby was reading.”

“Oh, really?” The Beast said.

“Yes, the local bookseller came to know me very well. I think I read every book that . . . well, that he had.” MiA had to be careful not to let it slip that he'd been reading illegal books. He didn't want his old friend to be arrested.

“Well, then, I will see to it that you have reading material,” The Beast said. “After dinner, I will show you something.”

MiA wondered if there were a bookseller somewhere within this palace. Given the size of it, he wouldn't be surprised.

Dinner arrived, first soup and salad, then a main course that was elegantly laid out on the plate, the fish and rice and vegetables arranged artfully. The butler poured them wine to go with the food. MiA drank his slowly, knowing that in a situation like his, it was important to keep his wits about him.

The Beast asked him about his family, and MiA said both his parents had passed on (though he didn't say why), then talked some about his brother and his crazy inventions. (He also omitted the fact that Kouki was currently designing a small submarine designed to get people past the usual patrols looking for escapees and over to Japan).

“You seem very fond of this brother,” The Beast said.

“I am,” MiA said. “He's all the family I have left. And he's taken care of me so well . . . what I did the other day, well, it was the least I could do for him.”

“What you did,” The Beast said, “it was very noble. I was surprised. Not everyone would have done it. It reminded me of . . .” He stopped. “Never mind. Why don't you tell me more about those clothes you work on?”

MiA was quiet. Was he about to say that he reminded him of . . . his mother?

The rest of the meal was uneventful, with MiA talking a bit about the fashion shows he'd been in, and then them discussing the gardens. He did notice, however, that The Beast seemed different overall when not surrounded by underlings. Less, well, angry, and more prone to real conversation.

After the dessert – an intensely rich chocolate cake – and coffee, The Beast stood up and said, “Wait there for a second, I'll be right back.”

MiA watched him leave the room through the door he came in, and came back holding something in his hand – a keyring, with two big keys on it and one small. “Here,” he said. “My father had two sets. One I have, the other I am entrusting you with. And I trust you will NOT abuse the privilege.”

MiA took them, gingerly. “What are these the keys to?”

“I will show you.” The Beast turned to his butler. “Cogusuwarutu, can you please make sure there is nobody in the outside corridor?”

The butler stepped out in the hall, then stepped back in. “It is clear, Master.”

“Come this way.” The Beast led the way out into the hall MiA came through to get to dinner and turned a corner. “We're now in the north wing – just up the main staircase. See that door over there, second from the right?”

MiA nodded. “Is that what the key goes to?”

“Yes. This key unlocks the front door.” He showed him the biggest key on the matching keyring he held. “Like . . . so.” He turned the lock, pushed the door in and turned on the light. MiA followed him.

There were bookshelves everywhere. Floor to ceiling, lined with rows after rows after rows of books. MiA's jaw dropped.

“Oh . . . my . . .God . . .”

“It's my family's private library,” The Beast said. “I've added to it in recent years.”

“This looks like more books than have ever been published in our country!” MiA said with excitement, flitting from shelf to shelf. Here were books about space and science, there were histories of the Japanese Samurai, and over on the far wall were Japanese translations of classic British and American novels.

“It is,” The Beast said. “Most of them come from Japan.”

“From Japan? Really?” MiA pulled one novel down from the shelf, leafing through it.

“We have the only books from Japan in the country,” The Beast said. “My father never wanted them in the hands of the populace.”

MiA suddenly turned and looked at him. “Do you do everything the way your father did?”

“I run the country the way he ran it. He said it was my duty as his heir to make sure the legacy of him and my grandfather was upheld, that our country continued to sustain itself and never got dragged into another nation's wars again.”

“But . . . hasn't it ever occurred to you that there may be another way?”

“My father said this is the only way,” said The Beast. “We must be a strong, self-sufficient country led by a strong leader. Outside influences will only weaken us, and weak countries are the ones that end up in wars.”

“But . . . aren't there ways to be strong other than brutalizing the people? Imposing your will on everything?”

“I leave enforcement of the laws to the generals. I trust them, like my father trusted his generals.”

“It seems to me that you might want to think about . . .” He sighed. “Never mind.” He bowed. “Thank you for inviting me here, and giving me the key.”

“It's the least I could do,” said The Beast.

“What do you mean?”

“I really did lose my temper last night. I didn't mean to . . . not to that extent. And then, when I saw what that guy did to you, or tried to do to you . . .”

“Did you kill him?” MiA said, softly.

The Beast shook his head. “I only shot to wound,” he said. “He passed out from the shock. He's in the infirmary now – and then, he'll be on town patrols for the rest of his life, with strict orders to stay away from alcohol.”

MiA was quiet. So the monster who had been accused of untold numbers of deaths couldn't commit a murder himself. No, he just left the killing and torture to his generals – because that's how his father had done it.

“I'm very glad you joined me for dinner,” The Beast said. “I . . . I don't see many people other than my staff. Especially other people my own age.”

“Is that why you accepted my offer to take my brother's place?” MiA said.

The Beast didn't answer directly. Instead, he said, “Can I count on your company every evening? I will tell the staff to admit you to the east wing at dinnertime, and listen for your voice.”

“I would like that,” MiA said, bowing. “Thank you.”

And to his surprise, he found he was sincere when he said that.

“It's getting late,” The Beast said. “I'll have Cogusuwarutu show you back to your room. Feel free to come here whenever you want to.”

MiA nodded. He glanced back at the library while they left it. It was the kind of thing that, back home, he would have given his right arm for.

This is one heck of a strange imprisonment, he thought.

* * *

The next day, MiA headed for the library as soon as he was done with breakfast. He found it easily, used his key, and settled down in a big easy chair with an interesting-looking book.

He'd been there a few hours when he heard another key turn in the door. He jumped . . . and saw The Beast walk in, cloaked and veiled.

The dictator removed the head and face coverings, revealing the military jacket he'd worn the night before. “I'm not surprised to find you here,” he said.

“You did give me the key,” said MiA. “I'm surprised to see you, though.”

“I come here every day for a few hours,” said The Beast. “It's my quiet spot, so to speak.”

“A place to get away from being the Almighty Leader for a few hours?”

“One never gets away from being a leader,” The Beast said. “One is a leader at all times. That doesn't mean I don't need a few hours of downtime.”

“I can agree on that,” MiA said. “I'm not in your chair, am I?”

“No, mine is the one opposite.” The Beast pointed a finger. “And you found the book I read a few weeks ago. What do you think of it?”

“It's hard to put down – though I'm a bit confused about who that guy who keeps coming and going is. I don't know if he's important, or just a red herring.”

“Keep reading – you'll find out.” The Beast held up a book. “This is what I'm reading now.”

“You like adventure stories?” MiA was half-tempted to tell him about Star Wars – but again, he'd be giving away that he'd been reading illegal books.

“I've always liked them.” The Beast looked wistful. “Ever since . . .. since I was a boy.”

Is that the kind of thing his mother read to him? MiA thought.

They passed a pleasant few hours, part of it reading quietly, part of it discussing their books. He seems so . . . sweet, and almost kind, MiA thought. It's so hard to believe he's a ruthless dictator.

Dictator, or his father's puppet, still controlling his son from beyond the grave?

The Beast had to go back to business, and MiA felt rather alone. He went to the kitchen for a light lunch, then returned to the library and went back to his book, until he could see the shadows of late afternoon outside the window. He headed back to his room to get ready for dinner.

They shared another pleasant meal that night. MiA asked The Beast about his staff, and he talked about Yoshiki with affection, saying he'd known the man since he was a small boy. “I trust him more than almost anyone.”

“What about your generals?”

“I don't have much of a relationship with them,” The Beast said. “It is best I don't. I am their master and commander. They are my arm when it comes to dealing with the public.”

“Why not deal with the public yourself?” MiA said. “Interact with them, find out what they want.”

“I can't let them see me,” The Beast said. “Even if I went down there cloaked and veiled, they'd be able to tell how young I am. They wouldn't have the same fear if they knew that . . .”

“That behind the facade of The Beast is a handsome prince?”

“I am FAR from a prince,” The Beast snapped. “I am a leader, like my father was, and his father was before him.”

“A true leader would listen to the voice of his people,” MiA said.

“Nations who let the people lead are weak,” The Beast said. “That is what . . .”

“Let me guess . . . what your father told you?”

“I learned everything there was about governing from him. This island sustains itself and hasn't been in a war since the unfortunate entanglement before my grandfather came to power. Why should I change that?”

MiA was quiet. There was no reasoning with this man when it came to his father. He must have been flat-out brainwashed, he thought. It's best . . . to just change the subject.

“Have you ever changed this palace, though? Is it exactly as it was in your grandfather's day?”

“Most of it is the same. We did add some to the north garden, though . . .”

At the conclusion of the meal, The Beast walked MiA to the door. “Did . . . did you mean what you said back then?”

“What I said . . . when?”

“When you called me handsome.”

“Well, beautiful would be more of the word. But yes – you're beautiful.”

“Nobody's ever commented on my looks before,” The Beast said. “Not even the people I took to bed.”

“If they didn't think you were attractive, they wouldn't have gone to bed with you.”

“Not always,” The Beast said, quietly. “My father just took what he wanted without consent. My grandfather, too. But . . . that's the one area where I'm different from them, I guess.”

His mother's influence, MiA thought. The one thing that kept him from being a complete monster. He reached for the other man's hand and squeezed it. “You ARE beautiful. Don't ever forget that.”

They just stood there for a long moment, staring at each other. And then, The Beast said, “I . . . I'll see you tomorrow in the library, okay?”

“Okay,” MiA said. “Good night.” He bowed and headed for the doors . . . and then rushed back to his rooms.

What is this feeling? he thought. It's a warmth rising up inside me. He's the monstrous dictator who holds this nation in fear, and my father died trying to overthrow his father . . .

But is he like his father and grandfather, really? Or is there something else, someone else, buried under years of brainwashing and rhetoric?

Is there true beauty inside The Beast?

* * *

Things settled into a comfortable pattern after that.

MiA would wake up, shower and dress, and go down to the kitchen, where a cheerful Potsu-san would bring him breakfast. Sometimes, he ate with Minister Yoshiki, if the older man were available at the time.

Then, he would head for the library, where The Beast would join him. The two of them would read and talk, after which The Beast would leave for his daily business. If it were a nice day, MiA would take his books outdoors in the afternoon – and a few times, he ended up helping the gardeners in their work. It made him feel good that he was actually doing something productive during his stay.

He'd go back to his rooms and dress for dinner. He tried to keep the conversation away from The Beast's father and his ideals, the two of them talking instead about the palace, the staff, the books they were reading.

The conversation between the two became easygoing – there were no repeats of the snapping at each other from when MiA first arrived. At times, The Beast seemed almost like a normal young man his age – one could almost mistake him for a young executive instead of a ruthless dictator. (Well, except for the military uniform he still insisted on wearing).

Then came one day that started out almost normal. MiA and The Beast were in the library together, and MiA brought out the keys to the library he'd been given. “Hey – what's the other key for? You never told me.”

“The second key opens the balcony doors over there.” The Beast nodded to a spot across the room. “It needs to be strengthened, though, it's been there since my grandfather's day and it's getting a bit rickety. So I didn't want you to use it until it's fixed.”

“And what about this one?” He held up the smaller key at the far end of the ring.

The Beast frowned. “That's odd. I don't have that on mine.” He looked at his own keychain again.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. You have the keys my father used to unlock this library. He had another set made for me. But . . . I don't see why mine would be different.”

MiA glanced around the room. He saw another door set into the far wall, smaller than the front. I haven't really noticed it before, he thought, but then again, I haven't been looking at anything but the books. “Maybe it goes to that?”

“I don't know what that is,” The Beast said. “My father never opened it when I was in here with him. I always thought it was a storage closet.”

MiA rushed across the room to it, looking at the doorknob. Yes, the keyhole under it looked small enough for this key to fit in. He pushed it in, turned it and tried the knob. The door swung open with a creak.

“It's another library,” he said. “A smaller one.”

“You're kidding me,” The Beast said.

“I wouldn't kid about something like that,” MiA said. “Take a look.”

The Beast walked into the room, looking around. There was a single light in the ceiling, and he flipped the switch to turn it on. It flickered to life slowly – it obviously hadn't been activated in years.

“It's . . . it's books about other countries,” he said. “Countries I've only heard of vaguely . . .” He pulled one down. “This is about the United States.”

“They're on the other side of the world, aren't they?” MiA said.

The Beast nodded. “That's the country that defeated Japan – and, by extension, us – in the Big War before my grandfather came to power.” He looked around at the other shelves. “There's a lot of books about the United States here, actually. And this one is about France . . . a revolution they held there. And these are about England . . .”

“There's books about England in the other room, isn't there?” said MiA.

“Yes – but nothing about England after the 1500s,” said The Beast. He frowned. What WERE these books, and why were they here?

“All our books about Japan are about old history, too,” said MiA. “Nothing after the time of the samurai.”

“These are books about Japan,” The Beast said, taking another off the shelf. “About Japan after the war . . .” He suddenly dropped the books and looked thunderstruck. “I don't understand it. Why are they here? Why did my father lock them away? Why . . . why didn't he put the key to this room on my keyring? I never thought his and mine were any different . . .”

“He probably didn't want you to know,” MiA said, gently. It was a hard truth . . . but one this man needed to hear.

“Why would he do that?” The Beast said. “Why would he keep anything from me?”

“Maybe we should read those books,” MiA said. “You might find out.”

“I'm . . . I'm almost afraid to,” The Beast said. His face was a mask of confusion, of conflicting emotions.

Of course he’s afraid, MiA thought. This is the first indication he's had that his father was anything but the perfect ruler.

“Don't be,” he said. “It might be something that it will be good for you to see. For both of us to see.”

And so, they put aside their novels, and began to read nothing but the history books from the secret library. They told about countries that were democracies, that chose their own leaders . . . of the revolutionaries who fought to free their nations from the tyranny of unjust rulers.

At first, The Beast was in denial. “These books are nonsense!” he said. “They're propaganda made up by people who want to overthrow my family! No wonder my father locked them away!”

“Are they?” MiA said. “All of them?”

“They have to be! There's no way a country could be governed by a constantly-shifting cast of elected leaders and be strong!”

“But this book was printed in Japan.” MiA showed him the flyleaf. “And it's a Japanese translation of an American book.”

“There's no way that can really be . . .” And then, The Beast took a closer look. “Oh, my God.”

“These books are real,” MiA said. “These societies exist, Beast-san.”

After that, The Beast read the books almost constantly. His time in the library grew longer, and he took them with him when retreating to his private chambers in the evening. He avoided talking about them when they were eating dinner – there were servants listening, after all – but they did discuss them when they were in the library, in hushed tones in case someone was passing by.

One day, while they were in their library chairs, The Beast suddenly let the volume he was reading drop to the floor. He looked absolutely thunderstruck.

MiA looked up, frowning. “Beast-san?” he said.

“It's about America,” he said. “America in the 20th century . . . and specifically, World War II. How they were able to defeat the Japanese . . . and how they remade Japan in their image. They taught Japan to be a society governed by the people . . . and Japan rose from the ashes of their destruction. They became stronger than ever.”

“That's . . . that's a good thing, isn't it?” MiA said.

“It's the opposite of what my father told me!” The Beast said. He jumped up and started to pace the library. “He led me to believe Japan was still governed by an emperor! They have an emperor, but he's just a figurehead! It's the will of the people that makes America strong, makes Japan strong, not a leader!”

MiA could only watch in sympathy. He'd thought the same thing when he'd been reading the book. The entire country had been sold a lie, a bill of goods, by The Ogre and The Monster. And it appeared they had sold The Beast on it, too.

The feared leader was now forced with having to admit his life, his government, everything he knew was built on a false foundation.

“He told me that only a strong leader who ruled through fear could make a nation strong, and I believed it. I believed every word, and . . .” He suddenly ran up to the wall and slammed his fist into it. “Why would my father lie? WHY?”

“Because he wanted you to carry on his legacy,” MiA said, softly.

“It was a false legacy! All those people who have been killed, been imprisoned, to preserve our nation . . . it was for nothing! Nothing!”

He suddenly bolted out the door. MiA tried to follow him. “Beast-san . . .”

But when he looked out in the corridor, The Beast had already disappeared.

* * *

There was no dinner outfit laid out on Yo-ka's bed that night. Instead, there was a note - “The Master regrets that he is feeling poorly, and he is to remain in his quarters tonight. You may take your dinner in the kitchen.”

The following day, The Beast didn't come to the library. MiA looked for him around the palace and saw no trace of him, asked the staff and got no answers. And that night, another note of regret.

When the same thing happened again the next day, MiA began to get genuinely worried. Fortunately, that night, he got another dinner invitation – Minister Yoshiki asked if he could dine with him in the kitchen.

“This is like old times,” the government official said with a wan smile when they sat down together. “We haven't done this since the first night.”

“Yoshiki-san,” MiA said, “have you seen him? Do you know anything?”

“That's why I wanted to talk to you,” Yoshiki said. “I'm the only person he has seen. He . . . confided in me. What's been going on in the library, I mean.”

“I'm sorry. If I knew it would create such a problem, I wouldn't have shown him that little key.”

“No, it's a good thing you did,” Minister Yoshiki said. “A very good thing, in fact.”

“How is it good if he's hiding himself away from everyone?” MiA said.

“He's digesting it all,” said Minister Yoshiki. “The whole idea that his father wasn't the perfect ruler he thought he was. That our form of government isn't necessarily the best one. And eventually, he will arrive at the conclusion that he has the power to reverse the evil his father and grandfather did. He wants to be strong . . . the greatest show of strength he could make right now would be to free his nation.”

“What if he doesn't arrive at that conclusion?” MiA said. “What if he just sinks deeper and deeper into despair?”

“He will,” Yoshiki said. “It may take time, that's all. Right now, he's undergoing a sort of symbolic death and rebirth. The end of The Beast . . . and, if all goes well, the rebirth of a human. Of Yo-ka.”

MiA was quiet. Despite Yoshiki's reassurance, he was worried. He had to see The Beast with his own two eyes, to speak to him.

And he had an idea of where he'd find him.

* * *

MiA snuck down the hall carrying a small flashlight. He was trying to be as quiet as possible, not wanting to give his presence away – yet.

And at the same time, he kept glancing around him, anxiously. After all, his last visit to this part of the palace hadn't gone well.

When he came to the door, he took a deep breath, and then tried it, gingerly. It swung inward just enough for him to slip in, then close it quietly.

“I know you're here,” he announced, loudly. “And I know you told me never to come here again, but I'm worried sick about you.”

The Beast was on the other side of the room, huddled next to the crystal rose in the jar. When MiA spoke, he jumped.

“How did you get in?” he snapped, his voice retaining some of the gruffness it had the first times he had spoken to his captive.

“You left the door open,” MiA said.

The Beast slumped down next to the rose again. “How did I know you would figure out where I was? You know me too well, you know that?”

“Of course you'd be here,” MiA said. “You take comfort here, don't you?”

“Yes,” he said, quietly. “This was her space. Her rooms. She was the only person who never lied, who never told me only what they thought I wanted to hear, who never wanted me to be The Beast. She just wanted me to be . . . me. And then, she was gone, and I had nothing but my father . . . and the things he told me.”

“They called her The Rose, didn't they?” MiA said.

The dictator nodded. “After this crystal rose she brought with her – her father was an artisan.” He tipped his head toward the opposite wall. “That's her portrait.”

MiA turned his head – he hadn't seen the picture before, but then again, he hadn't been in these rooms very long. It was a painting of a beautiful woman, who looked like her son in female form. “You're her spitting image.”

“Minister Yoshiki says the same thing,” The Beast said.

“What was the name she gave you?” MiA knew already – but he wanted to hear it from his own lips.

“She called me Yo-ka,” he said. “She always called me that.”

“Then I'll call you that as well from now on,” MiA said. “That's your true name, that's what you should be known as.”

“I . . . I like the sound of it,” he said. “I've been called nothing but Master or The Beast for so long . . .”

“You don't have to be if you don't want to. You have the power to change things.”

“But . . . but I wouldn't know what to do. All I've wanted to do is uphold my father's legacy, but now that I know that legacy is a lie . . .”

MiA suddenly walked over to The Beast – no, Yo-ka – and wrapped his arms around him from behind. “You can be your mother's living legacy now,” he said. “You can spread everything that she was about to the world – love and compassion. You can give your people freedom.”

“But if I do,” Yo-ka said, “what if there's chaos? Riots? Different factions fighting each other?”

“There's always a risk in a new government,” MiA said. “Remember the books we read? Every democracy goes through growing pains. But you can get help.”

“How?”

“Remember that one book that talked about the United Nations?” MiA squeezed his arms tighter around Yo-ka. “You can go to them. Japan is a member of the organization. You can take a boat over there, go to Tokyo, speak to their prime minister – I'm sure as a head of state, he'll grant you an audience. And he will help you get in touch with the United Nations.”

“Not just me,” Yo-ka said. “Us. You're coming with me.”

“Me? But I know nothing about government. I'm a model and a part-time tailor.”

“You read the same books I did. You know as much about democracy as I do. Besides, I want you with me . . . as my companion, MiA.”

“You . . . you do?”

“Yes. You've made me feel things I didn't think I was capable of feeling. Do you know why, when you offered to stay here as my prisoner instead of your brother, I put you in a room instead of a cell and treated you as a guest?”

MiA shook his head.

“Because when you made the offer . . . it was more nobility than I'd ever seen in anyone except her. It was as if . . . I could see you had a pure heart. And it fascinated me.”

“Do you still think that?”

“More than ever. In fact . . . I think the purity of your heart purified mine.”

MiA was going to say something – but instead, he found himself leaning toward Yo-ka. The other man leaned toward MiA, and their lips met for the first time.

Oh, God, MiA thought. Oh, God, it's finally happening. Because, he knew in his heart of hearts, it was meant to be all along.

Yo-ka pulled back from the kiss. “MiA, can I ask you something?”

“Of course you can.”

“If I asked you to come to my bedchamber . . . if I asked permission to make love to you . . .”

“You don't have to ask, Yo-ka,” MiA said. “I want to make love to you, too.”

“You do?”

“Of course.” MiA lightly bopped his nose. “Did you think I wouldn't?”

Yo-ka stood up. “Well, then, what are we waiting for? My bedchamber is at the end of the next corridor.”

They took off together, hand-in-hand – and in the west wing, the crystal rose seemed to sparkle a little more in approval.

* * *

When they came to a huge door that Yo-ka had to get out a key for, MiA realized he was being admitted to the innermost of inner sanctums in this palace.

“Has anyone been in here other than you?” he said. “And, well, your previous lovers?”

“Any experiences of that sort I had before took place in one of the spare bedrooms,” Yo-ka said as he unlocked the door. “Nobody's been in here but me and the maids. Minister Yoshiki and a few other officials have been in my sitting room, but not in here.”

“Do you have . . . um, what you'd need, then?”

“Lubricant, you mean? Yes. Lubricant is brought into this palace by the crate – plenty goes on between staff members, male and female. I took a tube for myself, just in case there was anyone I wanted to bring in here.” He tipped MiA's chin up. “And you're definitely the just in case.” He kissed his lips, softly.

MiA stepped into the room and looked around. Yo-ka had a king-sized bed with a canopy, similar to the one MiA slept in – except the coverlet and canopy were a dark crimson. There was a huge and heavy dresser covered in basic toiletries, a big mirror opposite the bed, a wardrobe and a closet.

It doesn't looked lived in, MiA thought. He literally must use it just for sleeping.

“I'll be right back,” Yo-ka said, heading for the bathroom. MiA heard water running – he must be washing off really fast, he thought. He must have not showered while in his “beast-to-human transition” phase.

MiA sat gingerly on the bed. It had been quite some time since he'd had a boyfriend, since he'd been in a sexual situation. What do I do now? he thought. Do I wait for him to come out and start undressing me, do I start stripping off for him . . .

He decided, spur of the moment, that he'd take out the guesswork. He removed his clothes, folded them neatly over the back of a chair, and climbed into the bed.

Yo-ka came out of the bathroom, wearing a yukata. MiA suddenly found it endearing – it was the first time he'd ever seen his about-to-be lover in anything other than a cloak and veil or a military uniform. He approached the edge of the bed – and then stopped.

“Well,” he said, “looks like I don't need this – if that bare skin goes down as far as I think it does.” 

MiA flipped the covers back, letting Yo-ka see his whole body. “It does,” he said. He paused, breath catching in his throat, as he felt the other man's eyes running over him, taking in every centimeter of exposed flesh.

“MiA,” Yo-ka said in a whisper. “You're so beautiful . . .” He began to move a hand down his body, slowly and reverently, caressing his shoulder first, then moving down to his chest, fingers brushing lightly over a nipple. Then lower, down over MiA's stomach, moving here and there to trace the patterns of the muscles . . .

He stopped before he could reach his ultimate goal and unfastened his yukata, tossing it aside. Now it was MiA's turn to feast his eyes, slowly looking over the muscled arms and chest – yes, he'd been working out, there had to be a gym in this palace . . . and then lower, over his belly, and . . .

“Oh,” MiA breathed as he looked at his lover's growing erection. Yo-ka was endowed, to be sure. He ran his fingers over it, lightly, feeling the shape of it . . .

Yo-ka slid onto the bed beside him and kissed MiA hard, their tongues rubbing against one another pulling back, then rubbing together again. They wrapped their fingers around each other's cocks, beginning a gentle, slow stroke, rubbing and caressing the hot flesh as they moved from root to tip and back again.

MiA closed his eyes, feeling Yo-ka harden in his hand, the way the other man responded to his touch, the way he shifted his hips forward, toward MiA . . . while MiA moaned into Yo-ka's mouth at the warm tingling that was spreading through his whole body from the fingers stroking him, caressing him . . .

Bliss. Sheer, unadulterated bliss. MiA could think of no other way to describe it.

Yo-ka moved his mouth to MiA's neck, kissing along the column as they continued to stroke, memorizing the shape and texture of one another, the spots that made each man arch up and moan. Then, realizing that if they got carried away, this would come to a too-quick end, they slowly let go of each other.

Yo-ka rolled them both over so that he was on top, and began to kiss down MiA's chest, running his tongue back and forth over a nipple when he came to it, then wrapping his lips around it, sucking rapidly. MiA cried out, gripping the back of the man's head, tugging ever-so-lightly at his hair. When he moved over to suck on the other bud, MiA moaned his name, his real name, and it sounded like sweet poetry to both of them.

MiA found himself breathing heavily in anticipation as Yo-ka's tongue traced a wet line down his stomach. “Please,” he murmured. “Please, I want to feel your mouth on me . . .”

But nothing could compare him for the jolt of pleasure when Yo-ka took his erection in his lips, running his tongue back and forth over the tip, then quickly moving down. MiA let out a loud cry of “Oh!” and his head and shoulders rose up from the bed, looking down at Yo-ka bend over him, cock sliding through his lips in an act of worship.

The dictator, the most powerful man in the nation, had been reduced to a supplicant before his lover, wanting only to pleasure him. And suddenly, that seemed almost as arousing to MiA as the feel of wet heat enveloping him, moving all around him.

Yo-ka pulled the cock out of his mouth, only to stroke gently from bottom to top with his tongue before taking him in and sucking again. MiA leaned back again, eyes tightly closed now, just completely lost in the pleasure, in this man and what he was doing to him.

The mouth eased away, and Yo-ka moved up, kissing MiA's lips again . . . and they both rolled over so MiA was on top this time, quickly kissing his way down Yo-ka's chest the way his new lover had done to him. He eagerly tongued a nipple, listening to Yo-ka's moan, wanting it to grow louder . . . he began to suck, and the moan became a loud cry, fingers tangling in his hair.

I have the dictator under my control, MiA thought, and a shudder of wicked pleasure ran through him. In this moment, now he was the most powerful man in the nation. It meant nothing outside this bedroom – MiA wouldn't want it to – but that didn't mean it wasn't delicious.

MiA began to move down further, his heart fluttering, wondering how he was going to get that in his mouth. He was bigger than his previous boyfriend had been, he'd never handled a cock like that before.

There was no problem whatsoever, though. Soon as it was in his lips, as he was breathing in his lover’s musky scent, MiA's own eagerness took over. He was able to open wide and slide down, feeling it fill his mouth, sucking on him hard.

He heard Yo-ka's ecstatic cry, felt his lover grip the back of his head, and it just made him suck faster, harder, moving his head up and down rapidly. That surge of powerful feeling was back, just feeding into the desire within MiA, making him swirl his tongue around the head when it was almost all the way out of his mouth just to hear the loud moan.

MiA knew that he needed to feel Yo-ka inside him, to feel them joined. He slid his mouth away, rolled off his lover, and got on all fours on the bed, lowering his head so his ass would stick up in the air, offered freely.

Yo-ka got the message immediately. MiA heard the scrape of a drawer being opened, then a squish sound, and then . . .

There was a finger pushing into his body, gently, opening him up little by little. MiA ignored the little bit of pain that resulted, focusing only on the warm pleasure that followed, moving through him slowly as Yo-ka moved in and out.

He moaned when the second finger pushed in, arching back toward his lover, and then the third, the sensation of stretching more intense now – but MiA welcomed it. He wanted to be fully ready, wanted the moment of their joining to be nothing but sheer ecstasy.

The fingers slid out, and Yo-ka said, softly, “I want to look at you . . .”

MiA flipped over on his back, raising and spreading his legs. Yo-ka quickly lubed himself, and then lay on top of the other man, settling between them.

They joined hands and looked into each other's eyes. No words were said. None were necessary.

Yo-ka began to gently push into MiA, and MiA's breath caught as the inevitable pain came. He willed it to go away, though, and it did, a warm and delicious feeling starting to take its place as he penetrated further.

He paused for a moment, lowering his head, and the two kissed, tenderly. Then, he started to move, a gentle thrust at first, then gradually getting harder, faster, deeper.

If Yo-ka had felt good in MiA's mouth, he felt like absolute heaven now, each movement stimulating nerve endings that made MiA let out loud moans, made him spread his legs wider so the other man could thrust deeper.

He reached up and ran his hands down his lover's back, feeling the sheen of sweat there, the heat of his body. MiA began to pump his own hips, meeting every thrust. “More,” he moaned, and Yo-ka thrust harder, the two feeling like they were truly joined now.

MiA wrapped his legs around Yo-ka's hips, and gripped onto his shoulders, and moved with him, again and again. Everything about Yo-ka was enveloping him now, his scent and his heat and the beautiful sounds of his moans . . .

And then, Yo-ka suddenly hit a spot within MiA that made stars explode behind his vision. He cried out, and Yo-ka thrust against it again and again . . .

There was an explosion of ecstasy within MiA more hot and intense than anything he'd ever experienced before. He arched up against Yo-ka, nearly screaming as he was overwhelmed with it, as it passed through him in long, pulsing waves. He never knew an orgasm could feel quite like that.

Yo-ka thrust hard into him a few more times, and then he let out his own cry of ecstasy, pouring himself into MiA, then finally collapsing op top of him, panting.

They kissed again, gently, and snuggled against one another. They both knew that they were going to have to let go – Yo-ka would have to go get something to clean them off – but they were going to make this moment last as long as they possibly could.

In many ways, both of them had been waiting for it all their lives.

* * *

MiA woke up the next day to warmth and comfort. He snuggled closer to the body next to him. Was he still dreaming, he thought, or . . .

He opened his eyes all the way. There was Yo-ka, sleeping beside him. It wasn't a dream at all. It was blissful reality.

MiA gently stroked his new lover's hair. He looks so innocent now, he thought, so peaceful. One would never know he was a monster in the eyes of his people. Except . . . he wasn't. And in his heart of hearts, he never had been.

Yo-ka yawned. “Good morning,” he said.

“Good morning to you, too,” MiA said. “Sleep well?”

“Better than I have since I was a kid.” Yo-ka wrapped his arms around MiA. “I could get used to this sight first thing in the morning, you know.”

“So could I,” MiA replied. He leaned over for a kiss. “You are really cute when you're asleep.”

“Cute?” said Yo-ka.

“Yes, cute!” MiA said. “I should take a picture of you.”

“If you get to have a picture of me sleeping, I get to have a picture of you sleeping,” Yo-ka said.

“Deal.” MiA said. “So . . . what now?”

“Well, I usually take my breakfast up here,” he said. “I'll just have the kitchen send up extra. And then . . .” He leaned his forehead against MiA's. “There just might be time for a round two before I have my duties.”

“What are your duties, anyway?” MiA said.

“Boring stuff. Looking at the monitors that show activity around the island. Meetings. Getting reports from generals. That sort of thing. I could show you the monitors before you go to the library. Let you see the island the way I see it.”

“That's after the other things, though,” MiA said. “I want to spend every moment with you here in this room that I can.”

The two kissed again. It was a brand new day, all right . . . in more ways than one.

* * *

MiA and Yo-ka were headed down the hall hand-in-hand when Minister Yoshiki approached them. They dropped hands quickly as soon as they saw him – although he caught a glimpse.

Good, Yoshiki thought. Very, very good. Perhaps . . . the miracle I've been hoping for has happened.

“Well, hello there,” he said. “You look happy this morning.”

“Good morning to you, too, Minister,” Yo-ka said. “I'm bringing MiA to see the monitors on the way to the library. I figure he's been here long enough that we can trust him with seeing that.”

“But of course,” Minister Yoshiki said. “I'll see you in the great meeting room afterward?”

“Yes,” Yo-ka said. He and MiA walked past the official . . . and then clasped hands again as they headed to the monitor room, laughing softly.

“Think he saw?” MiA said.

“I'd rather have him see than some of the others,” Yo-ka said. “They'd spread the gossip around the whole palace in less than a minute.” He opened the doors and stepped into a room lined with an entire wall of small televisions, each showing a different street in the main city – except for the last two rows, which showed strategic points in some of the small towns.

“Oh, my God,” MiA said. He looked from one to the other – here was the bakery where he used to get occasional cakes for him and his brother, there was the bicycle seller, over there was the schoolhouse . . . “It's like looking at a magic mirror. It shows you everything at once.”

“They're monitored at all times,” Yo-ka said. “I check them in the mornings, and then the military officials keep an eye on them all day.” He pointed to a control panel. “If we see anything of interest on any of the screens, we can push a button here to zoom in for a closer view.”

“It's . . . fascinating,” MiA said. He moved closer, looking up at the monitors again. “Yo-ka . . . is this the only way you've ever seen the island?”

“I was down there in the city when I was younger, when my father was still alive. Before . . .”

“Before you became The Beast.”

“And since then, well . . .”

MiA put a hand on Yo-ka's shoulder. “We'll go down there,” he said. “We'll live among the people once the island is free and a democracy has been established.”

“We,” Yo-ka said, softly.

“And don't worry about having to work,” MiA said. “I will still be able to have a job. I'm sure Gaston-san will take me back. See, that's his shop over there, on monitor number . . .”

Suddenly, MiA froze. There was something on that screen . . . he hoped he wasn't seeing what he thought he was . . .”

“MiA?”

“Zoom in. Monitor number five.”

Yo-ka did, and MiA gasped, his hands coming to cover his mouth.

There was his brother, Kouki, being yelled at and shoved against a wall by Avenant de Gaston himself. Kouki raised his hands, appearing to plead with the man – but got punched in the stomach, then dragged inside the store.

“Oh, crap,” Yo-ka said. He picked up a walkie-talkie built into the console. “Base, this is the Master. We need a unit down on . . .” He gave the address of the shop. “There's a disturbance.” He turned to MiA. “A crew is on their way down.”

“Let me go with them!” MiA said. “Please! It's my brother, he's in trouble!” MiA suddenly felt guilty for not thinking as much about Kouki lately as he had when he first arrived. Yes, he thought, I'm here because of him, because I volunteered to take his place . . .

He'd just about forgotten, recently, that he was a prisoner.

“MiA,” Yo-ka said. “it could be dangerous down . . .”

“I can reason with Gaston-san,” MiA said. “Please, Yo-ka . . .”

The former Beast suddenly embraced him. “Promise me you'll come back,” he said. “Promise me you won't run away for good.”

“I promise,” MiA said. “I swear on my life.”

“And when you come back . . . we won't be prisoner and captor anymore. We'll just be . . . us.”

“Yes,” MiA said with a smile. “We'll just be us.”

“Now, go to him,” Yo-ka said. “They'll be at the bottom of the right staircase. I'm going to tell them you're coming. Oh, and take this . . . ” He went into a cabinet on the wall. “It's a scroll showing the grounds of the palace. There's only one secret entrance, through the woods – and your brother happened to stumble into it the day we met. Use it in case you decide to stay awhile after my agents have gone back.”

“You trust me to do that?”

“Of course I do, MiA. Because it's you.”

MiA leaned over, gave Yo-ka a lingering kiss, then left quickly, not looking back.

Minister Yoshiki came into the room a few minutes later, to find his Master sitting by the console, walkie-talkie in hand, shoulders slumped – a dramatic contrast to what he looked like before.

“Master?” he said. “What's wrong? Where's MiA?”

“I let him go,” Yo-ka said in a dull voice.

“What? Why?”

“I had to.” He took a deep breath. “Because I love him.”

* * *

MiA had been gone so long that riding into town seemed almost surreal. He glanced to the left and right as the military vehicle made its way through the streets, the people scurrying into the nearest available buildings as it passed. Nobody wanted to be around the soldiers of The Beast.

The jeep stopped in front of MiA's once-familiar place of employment. He got out, along with the soldiers. They banged on the door.

“Who is it?” Gaston's voice came from inside. “We're open, you know.”

“Army,” one of the soldiers called. “We understand there's been a disturbance.”

“Disturbance?” Gaston opened the door with his all-too-familiar too-wide smile. MiA hid behind the soldiers and felt a shudder of revulsion. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“You were seen on the monitors of the palace, sir, having an altercation with another man. A rather violent one. That sort of behavior is NOT tolerated.”

“Dear sirs, that was a basic conflict that got out of hand,” Gaston said. “He seems to think I know where his brother is – the boy disappeared several months ago. I do think he's losing his mind. I promise that if it happens again I will contact the proper authorities. Now . . .” Gaston opened a drawer and pulled something out. “Are we clear on this?”

Money, MiA thought. He's bribing them! He began to wonder how many OTHER people had bribed members of the military. Wait until I tell Yo-ka about this, he thought.

Gaston slipped the envelope over quietly, and the soldier took it equally quietly – in a manner that couldn't be caught by the ever-vigilant surveillance cameras. “If that be the case,” the first soldier said, “sorry to trouble you, sir. We'll be off.”

“Wait!” MiA said. “I . . . can you let me stay for a few minutes and talk with this man? I know him . . . he used to be my employer.”

The soldiers nodded at each other. “We'll be next door,” one of them said. “We'll be back in an hour or so.”

Next door, MiA thought, is a bar. Soldiers drinking on the job. . . this got worse and worse. “All right,” he said.

As soon as they were gone, he stepped into the shop and slammed the door. “What the hell did you do with my brother?” he shouted.

“MiA, dear,” Gaston said. “What a surprise to see you back. Wherever have you been?”

“Don't sweet-talk me!” MiA said. “I KNOW you beat up my brother! Why? Where is he now?”

“Why, however would you know that?” Gaston said. 

“I'm not telling you why!” MiA said.

“Well, your brother told us that he was taken prisoner at The Beast's palace and that you took his place. Although you look very healthy and well-cared-for for a prisoner in a palace run by a brutal dictator.”

“Don't call him that!” MiA snapped. “You don't know the first thing about him! He's nothing like . . .”

“So you've made his acquaintance, hmm?” Gaston said. “Maybe YOU will be more useful to us than your brother! We kept trying to get him to tell us how he got into the palace, and he keeps saying he doesn't know . . . so we decided it was time to FORCE him to tell us.”

He suddenly seized MiA's arm and dragged him across the room, throwing open a door at the back of the room, the one MiA knew went to the basement. He propelled him down the stairs, roughly, finally stopping at the bottom.

There was a collection of other men, most of them burly and gruff-looking, sitting in a circle on the floor, many of them with weapons in their hands. And in the middle of the circle was his brother, tied to a chair, a gag in his mouth.

Kouki raised his head, blinking. He seemed to be trying to murmur “MiA?” around the gag.

“You didn't know I was a member of the Liberation Front, did you?” Gaston said. “I have been for years. We've been trying and trying to find a way onto the palace grounds, but to no avail. And when we get there, we will kill The Beast and free this country from that family's tyranny once and for all!”

“NO!” MiA said. “You don't understand him! Not at all! He never really wanted to be this way! His father brainwashed him into it! He doesn't believe in all that anymore! He's really gentle and kind!”

Gaston turned toward MiA, slowly. “If I didn't know better,” he said, “I'd think you had feelings for that monster!”

“He's no monster, Gaston-san!” MiA shouted. “YOU are!” As he said it, he pointed at the designer, furiously . . . and the scroll he was holding fell to the floor with a clatter.

“What's this?” Gaston said, reaching for it.

“NO!” MiA shouted, grabbing for it – but the designer had snatched it away first, and unrolled it.

“Well, well,” he said. “The plans to the palace grounds! Complete with the entrance we've been looking for all along!”

“GIVE THAT BACK!” MiA shouted, grabbing for it – only to have two of the Liberation Front members grab his arms and pin them behind him.

“You've done a great service to your country, sir,” Gaston said. “All right, men, this is it! Get all your weapons! Take gas masks if you have them in case they try to gas us! And go NOW! We will take back our country! We will make our country great again! KILL THE BEAST!”

“KILL THE BEAST!” the mob echoed, and stormed up the stairs, pushing MiA roughly to the floor as they went.

MiA crawled across the floor to Kouki, quickly undoing his bonds as soon as they were gone. “MiA,” he said as soon as the gag was removed. “Is it really you?”

“Yes, it's me. I asked him to let me go to you as soon as I saw you were in trouble. What did that bastard do?”

“I tried to get you help,” Kouki said. “I tried and tried, but nobody knew how to get into the palace, and Gaston seemed to think _I_ knew how to get into the palace, and I kept telling him I didn't know, and he kept harassing me, and . . .” He hugged his brother. “I'm just glad you're all right.”

“I am,” MiA said. “But I have to get to Yo-ka now. He's in danger . . . I just hope I can warn him before they get there . . .”

“Yo-ka?” Kouki said. “Who's Yo-ka?”

“Someone who's come to mean a lot to me,” MiA said. “Do you still have any working vehicles?”

“There's the Sonicmobile . . . it's still a work in progress, but it's faster than . . .”

“Perfect!” said MiA. “Just tell me how to work it.”

“I'm coming with you,” Kouki said.

“You're in no shape to . . .”

“I look a lot worse than I am,” Kouki said. “You helped me, now I'm helping you. That's what family is for, right?”

MiA hugged his brother again. “Come on,” he said. “Let's go – we have no time to waste.”

* * *

Years later, legends would be told about what came to be known as The Siege of the Leader's Palace. It was a great battle, to be sure -indeed, the stuff legends were made of.

It was said the guards were taken entirely by surprise, and that was true. The mob poured in, broke into one of the military weapons lockers, and stole guns equal to the ones their opponents would be using. They stormed the main gates, and then, the shooting started.

Bodies fell quickly. Before anyone knew it, there were Liberation Front members everywhere, shooting everyone they came into contact with – staff, officials, soldiers. By the time most of the military caught on and swung fully into action, the group had laid waste to the ground floor of the palace and was storming upstairs.

Minister Yoshiki, meanwhile, was looking frantically for the leader, to hide him. He tried the west wing, risking his wrath – to no avail. He tried his meeting rooms – empty.

And then, with a sudden burst of inspiration, he ran into the library. There was Yo-ka, sitting next to the chair where MiA normally sat, running his fingers slowly over one of its arms.

“Master,” Minister Yoshiki said, “the palace is under attack.”

Yo-ka looked up, slowly. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you need to get out of here! Go up in the high turret and stay there! They've got guns, lots of them!” A pause. “Get out of here, if you ever want to see MiA again!”

At that, Yo-ka sprang to his feet. “Did he come back?” he said.

“If he knows what's good for him, he'll stay away right now,” Minister Yoshiki said. “Now, hurry!”

* * *

The figure in the gas mask crept along the wall, listening closely for any clue as to the information he sought. His group had scored significant victories until now, to be sure . . . but they hadn't gotten the big prize. They hadn't found the bastard himself.

And he wanted to be the one to take the son of a bitch out with his own hands. Not only for what his family had done to this country, but for how he'd bent MiA to his will. Gentle and kind my ass, he thought.

He heard a voice in the distance yelling, “The tower! The master's been taken there!”

So, Avenant de Gaston thought, that's where he is. He reached into his pocket and took out the plans MiA had so thoughtfully provided for him. The tower in question was easy to find.

He took off at a sprint. The Beast was as good as dead now.

* * *

Yo-ka sat at the top of the tower – an empty room that had been used as yet another place to put prisoners during his father and grandfather's time. Because they needed all the room for prisoners they could get.

His mind was trying to process it all, but it couldn't. His palace was under attack – the palace that had been safeguarded for so many years. They'd found that one vulnerability in the woods, that one place MiA's brother had slipped through . . .

It couldn't be coincidental, he thought. They didn't just stumble upon that entrance. They found it. Which means they probably got MiA. Why did I let him go like that? Why didn't I think that if his brother was attacked, he could be, too?

There was a noise at the door. Yo-ka jumped. Was it MiA? Had he made it back to the palace, and been told where to find him . . .

But it wasn't MiA. The door swung open to reveal a man in a suit and a gas mask, pointing a large, military-grade gun at him. And, shit, Yo-ka had no weapons.

“So, it's finally you, is it?” the voice behind the mask said. “Who would have thought The Beast would be a young pretty boy?” He shoved his weapon into Yo-ka's stomach, and Yo-ka fell to the ground.

“No matter,” the gas mask said. “Young or not, you're still the bastard who ruined this country, and you're still going to die.” He began advancing on Yo-ka, slowly. Yo-ka could only crawl backward, still on the floor.

Dammit, he thought, why don't I have a gun? Of course, he didn't think to put one on that morning . . . the day had gotten off to such a blissful start . . .

“What's the matter, _Beast_?” the gas mask said. “Too _kind_ and _gentle_ to fight back? MiA said that about you, you know.”

At the sound of his lover's name, Yo-ka stopped – then realized he had to keep moving, or he was dead. “How do you know him?”

“Why does it matter?” the gas mask said. “He's going to be mine when you're dead, anyway.”

Yo-ka felt the wall against his back. He was trapped, cornered . . .

“Why would he want a scumbag dictator like you when he could have a guy like me, anyway?” said the gas mask.

Yo-ka suddenly snapped into action. He kicked out fiercely, knocking the gun from his assailant's hands, and moved like lightning to grab it, leaping to his feet. Now the tables were turned – the gas mask man was lying on the floor, and Yo-ka was pointing the gun at him.

His finger wrapped around the trigger, and twitched . . .

No, he thought. I won't pull it. I'm not like my father and grandfather.

Instead, he said, harshly, “Get out. NOW.”

The gas mask man scrambled to his feet and ran for the door – because Gaston, like all bullies, was a coward at heart.

As he was running, however, another figure ran past him into the room. “Yo-ka!” MiA cried. “Are you all right? Please say you're all right!”

“MiA! You came back!” Yo-ka dropped the gun and embraced his lover, his back to the door.

“Did you think I wouldn't?” MiA said. “I wish I had come sooner, my brother's contraption had some trouble . . .”

Gaston, who was still just outside the door, watched the reunion with rage in his heart. He clenched his fist at his side . . . and then realized he still had a small pistol there. He raised it, aimed for The Beast, and fired.

Yo-ka suddenly gave a jolt, then collapsed in MiA's arms. “Yo-ka!” MiA screamed. “YO-KA!”

Minister Yoshiki, who had been on his way up the stairs after MiA, heard the shot. Without a second thought, he drew his own pistol and fired at the assailant. Avenant de Gaston fell to the floor, dead.

“Master!” Yoshiki shouted, running into the room – only to see MiA on the floor, sobbing, cradling Yo-ka's head in his arms.

“Maybe . . . it's better this way,” Yo-ka said in a choked voice. “When I'm dead, the people will be truly free . . .”

“Don't talk like that!” MiA said, tears starting to run down his face. “You're going to be all right!”

Yo-ka reached up and touched MiA's face. “At least I got to see you once last time.”

Yoshiki ran back down the stairs. “GET A STRETCHER, NOW!” he shouted. “WE NEED TO GET THE MASTER INTO SURGERY AT ONCE!”

Please don't let it be too late, he thought, as he ran upstairs with the medical crew – only to see Yo-ka unconscious, blood everywhere, and MiA crying out, “No, don't go! Don't leave me – I love you!”

“We're going to do all we can, sir,” the head of the medical crew said as they loaded Yo-ka onto the gurney they carried. “Hang in there, Master.”

MiA followed them all the way to the infirmary, until the doors were shut in his face. He leaned on the wall, trembling – and then felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Come sit,” Minister Yoshiki said, gently. “Your brother is with me.”

“MiA,” Kouki said, standing up to embrace him. “That man . . . is he . . .”

“He's The Beast,” MiA said. “Or at least he was.”

He was guided to a chair in the waiting area between the other two men, and he began to spill out the tale of everything that had happened since the day of his arrival, Minister Yoshiki filling in some parts.

“So you see,” Minister Yoshiki said at the end of it, “it's a fortunate thing, Kouki-san, that you got lost that day. Having MiA around turned The Beast into the man he's supposed to be.”

“If anybody could turn around a dictator, it's MiA,” Kouki said. “He's got the purest heart of anyone I've ever met.”

“Stop,” MiA said.

“Well, it's true,” Kouki said. “I want to meet your Yo-ka, once he's up to it. Well, re-meet him under better circumstances than the first time.”

They sat there for what seemed an eternity, Kouki filling MiA in on what happened when he was gone (mostly him being harassed by the Liberation Front, even though he repeatedly told them he didn't know how he got into the palace, and the inventions he worked on to distract himself from MiA's absence – fortunately, he'd been able to sell some basic motorized carts to farmers to support himself).

Eventually, a doctor came out and approached the trio. Minister Yoshiki bowed to him. “How is he?”

“The man is very lucky,” said the doctor. “The bullet just missed some vital organs – and his spinal column. Fortunately, the public lined up to donate blood as soon as word reached the city there were a lot of injuries in the siege, so we were able to replace the blood he lost.”

Probably they thought the injured were all Liberation Front members, MiA thought. They certainly wouldn't have donated if they knew the blood was going to The Beast.

“We were able to save him,” the doctor said. “Mostly because he has an incredibly strong will to live. He'll be resting for awhile, but he's going to recover.”

“Thank you!” MiA cried. “Thank you so much!”

“Are you MiA?” said the doctor. “He's been asking for a MiA since he started coming out of the anesthesia.”

“Yes,” he said. “Can I see him?”

“Come this way.”

MiA was led into a room where Yo-ka was lying on a bed, bandages wrapped around his chest. His eyes were closed – but they opened when his lover stepped up to his bedside.

“Hi,” he said. “I don't look that good right now, I'm afraid.”

“You're beautiful, like always.” MiA took his hand in both of his. “I was so scared . . .”

“Did I hear you say you loved me back there?”

“Yes. Yes, and I mean it. Every word.”

“Good. Because I love you, too. And we're going to live together from now on as a couple . . . but I don't know where. I don't know how much of the palace is left.”

“This infirmary, of course. And Minister Yoshiki said they spared the south wing” - where the staff and servants lived.

“We'll live there, then. Your brother, too. At least until we can go through with our plans to free the country.”

“Sssh,” MiA said. “Don't talk. Save your strength. We'll think about that later . . . when you're well. For now . . .” He kissed the hand he held. “I'm just glad you're still here with me.”

Yo-ka closed his eyes. “Me, too,” he said.

Minister Yoshiki watched from the doorway, a smile on his face. His greatest hopes had been realized. A beauty had freed The Beast from his family's curse, and made him truly human again.

* * *

EPILOGUE

Several weeks later, word went out throughout the country that The Master would address the nation on television for the first time. At first, there was shock and disbelief – rumors had spread that The Beast had been killed during the siege, and they were disappointed to find out it wasn't true.

This gave way to curiosity, since The Beast was an enigma – he had never been seen throughout his reign. And so, at the appointed day and time, people were crowded around every television they could get access to.

When the young man in a suit appeared – for Yo-ka had stopped wearing the military uniforms – a collective gasp went up. This couldn't be The Beast! He was so young! So soft and pretty-looking!

“My fellow citizens,” he said. “I have never addressed you directly before. The time has come to do so now, because there are going to be changes for all of us. Big changes, which I think you will approve of. You may have heard that several weeks ago, my palace was laid siege to by members of the Liberation Front, resulting in deaths, injuries and property damage. The raiders had sought to overthrow me, if not kill me. What they did not know, however, was that their raid was for nothing – because what they sought was already in their grasp.”

He took a deep breath. “I had decided, before the siege, that I am going to ease out of the role of the country's Premier. This nation suffered for a long time in the iron grip of my father and grandfather, and for some time, myself. But my mindset has changed now, and I see that our people deserve a democracy – a government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

Another gasp went up – followed by loud cheers. Nobody thought this day would come. Nobody at all.

The figure on the screen continued to speak. “To that end, I intend to appeal to the Prime Minister of Japan and the United Nations for help in setting up a democratic government and a system of free trade with other nations – not just the very limited trade we currently have with Japan. We will improve the quality of life for everyone here – better education, better medical care, better technology. I intend to find out what they have in Japan, and bring it here. No longer shall we be isolated from the rest of the world.”

More cheers went up from the citizenry. An old man in his 90s, who could remember life before the Ogre, sobbed as he watched the broadcast in his granddaughter's living room. “I never thought I'd see the day when our country was returned to us,” he said.

“Furthermore,” said the figure on the screen, “I am calling an immediate halt to all hyper-surveillance of citizens. There will be no more secret police, no soldiers marching down the street all hours of the day and night, no people being dragged off to prisons for the least slight against someone in government. The surveillance cameras that sent a constant feed to the palace have been turned off. In short, my fellow citizens . . . you have been set free.”

Cheers resounded everywhere. Some people stumbled into the streets sobbing with joy. Corks were popped from hard-to-get bottles of wine throughout the island.

“I will be setting up a transitional government to guide the country until we can set up our new government,” said the former Beast. “The head of it will be Minister Yoshiki, an official who truly loves this country and has wanted it to be free as much as you have. And one more thing – I am christening our reborn nation with a new name. For too long, it has been a prison and a hell for you. I want it to be a paradise for our people instead. To that end, I now call this country by the name of a legendary paradise – Eden.”

More cheers – by this time, people were literally dancing in the streets. In fact, there weren't that many that heard the end of the speech, though what he said then was important.

“And so, I will make one last decree as absolute ruler of this country. I will grant full rights to our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community – including the right of marriage. I do this because I am a member of that community myself, and because there is someone very important in my life who I want to make my spouse – someone whom without, you would not be listening to this speech now. I wish you all the joy that I have found. Thank you, my fellow citizens, and may you all have happy and peaceful lives.”

* * *

Yo-ka kept his word. He and MiA journeyed over to Japan on one of the merchant boats to Okinawa. Of course, having no foreknowledge of the country other than what was in books, they had no idea how to get to the Prime Minister. Fortunately, the captain of the boat pleaded their case to the habormaster, who got in touch with the local government, who got in touch with the Prime Minister's office and got them an audience.

They traveled to Tokyo in a shinkansen – which to Yo-ka and MiA was like a flying carpet – and beheld the capital city, with its electronic wonders, as if they were in an enchanted kingdom. When the Prime Minster met with them, he was baffled about the fuss they made over his cell phone and iPad – and realized they must be telling the truth, because you couldn’t fake a reaction like that. He not only agreed to help, he got their story carried in the media.

The story – a dictator in an isolated, backwards country stepping down and wanting to bring his nation into the modern world – spread from Japanese media to the rest of Asia, then to America, then throughout the world. In short, it went viral. Everyone loved a story about a bad guy turned good.

The United Nations offered to help. So did the governments of America, most of Europe, and South Korea. Canada sent a team of technology experts to analyze where Eden was at the moment (they concluded the country was “living in the mid-1950s”) and get them started in the right direction.

Soon, satellite dishes appeared around the island, bringing programming and news from Japan for the first time. Technology companies in America got into the act, sending over crates of refurbished cell phones and laptops, and the nation was wired for Internet and full cellular service. Within a year of the improvements, they even had their own .edn web domain.

Teachers began streaming onto the island to improve the education levels of both adults and children. Agriculturalists came to help improve the farming. Old businesses got a boost, new businesses sprang up everywhere – including franchises. By the third anniversary of Yo-ka's speech ending the dictatorship, the island had a couple of Starbucks outlets, Mos Burger, Mister Donut . . . even a Don Quixote.

The government formed slowly but surely. A series of citizens' meetings were held to determine what people did and did not want – and those with dissenting opinions were encouraged to forge their own political parties. By the time the first elections were finally called, five years after the speech, there were three parties – one on the right, one in the middle, and one on the left.

Minister Yoshiki was chosen as president in Eden's first ever nationwide elections – and he went on to be a founding father of which the nation could be proud.

* * *

But what of Beauty and The Beast, you may ask?

Yo-ka and MiA were married a year after the speech, and they became the nation's ambassadors to the world. They traveled from country to country, meeting heads of state, talking about their project to improve their homeland. They spent a lot of time in Tokyo, since the Japanese government was their closest allies.

They continued to live in the palace, which was repaired and renovated to become the new seat of government and home of the president. As Liberator of the Country and national ambassador for as long as he wanted the position, Yo-ka was entitled to apartments within the complex. They chose the west wing – although the rooms that had been occupied by The Rose were still kept as they were as a shrine to her.

MiA also returned to his old profession, at least somewhat – he was a model for photographers both at home and in Tokyo. He even tried his hand at some designing himself – but never again would he sew clothes for someone else. (Gaston's old showroom, by the way, became a free public library – featuring the formerly forbidden books that the bookseller used to offer.)

Anyone who knew the couple said that they seemed always happy and always in love. They were rarely seen without each other. Of course, away from the public they had their ups and downs like any other couple – but they were willing to work on solutions, because their bond meant that much to them.

It was a bond that had healed a nation – and one very human heart. For the first time in his life, Yo-ka was truly what Yoshiki always knew he had the potential to be – one hundred percent his mother’s son.

In short? It's pretty safe to say that they lived happily ever after.

**Author's Note:**

> The final confrontation between Gaston and The Beast is based both on the scene in the original film and DIAURA’s Blind Message PV.


End file.
